We’re back with a new movie review, this time we’re writing about the 2021 film ‘Emergency Declaration’.
The film was written and directed by Han Jae-rim. He also directed the 2005 hit ‘Rules of Dating’ and the 2017 film ‘The King’.
There are a lot of big names tied to the film. ‘Emergency Declaration’ stars actors like Song Kang-Ho, Lee Byung-hun, Jeon Do-yeon, Kim Nam-gil, Im Si-wan and Park Hae-Joon.
Plot
‘Emergency Declaration’ portrays the story of flight K501 that was on its way to Honolulu when the flight has to declare emergency after they discover one of the passengers has committed an act of biological terrorism.
The story follows two storylines. We can see the passengers on the plane trying to figure out what is going on and what they should do. And on the other front we can see how the police and the Minister of Travel are doing everything they can to find an antidote.
Our main character is In-Ho (Song Kang-Ho from ‘Parasite‘) who is a police officer and the husband of one of the passengers on the flight. There’s also Jae-Hyeok (Lee Byung-Hun from ‘Mr. Sunshine’) who is a passenger on the flight together with his daughter and a former pilot.
Overall
It’s interesting to see the connections between the people on land and the ones in the air. I think something that was portrayed very well was human nature. It was interesting to see how some people reacted angry and without compassion whereas the other side was compassionate and caring.
The only thing that could have been developed a bit better was the biological terrorist Jin-Seok (Im Si-Wan). On the one hand I can understand why they didn’t want to give him a ‘solid reason’ as terrorism is not understandable. It’s something they give a passing commentary on during an investigation at the very end where the Minister shares her thoughts. On the other hand, it would have created a fuller character. Im Si-Wan didn’t have a lot to work with.
Despite that, the film runs quite lengthy at more than 2 hours. However it’s worth a watch because this is one emotional rollercoaster.
You can find the trailer below.
